[1.2TSI7DSG]

This year saw many launches in both the new vehicles and the refreshed vehicles. May 2016 be a better year for the Car Industry.

The competition is quiet tough.
We had a boom in the The Pseudo-Compact SUV segments and the Premium Hatch Segment which have primarily driven the sales figure changes the tables. However, behind the scenes there was a new K(w)id on the block working hard to make an impression.

Completely unexpected pricing made the Kwid reach out to people across all the segments. It appealed to the rural areas, it appealed to the urban areas, it appealed to the poor, it appealed to the rich, it appealed as a first car, it appealed as a second/third/nth car, it appealed to men, it appealed to women and of course the K(w)ids on the block.

According to me, what this vehicle has achieved is what Nano failed. A conservative survey of people having INR 5 lakh and above vehicle revealed that almost all of them were considering Kwid as their second car. It offers the style, package, brand value, comfort and many other things which one would desire in my second car but was not offered by Maruti Alto, Nano. (Eon is pricey as compared to the Kwid hence fell out as the second car)

Other than the major movement of the car market to me, it is extremely pleasant to drive in the city (never took it on Highways hence no comments). It would be "THE" car for my wifey to take to office (possibly i may swap it in the long run)

Cheers to the competition and may the best car win

[Zappo]

A COTY has to be a lot more than what is expected. Toss up here in my opinion was between Creta and Kwid.

While Creta brought in some good refinements as expected from Hyundai nowadays, the price at which they offered these took a lot out of it. At the price at which a Creta sells people do expect all that and then some more. Overall, even if Creta has seen acceptance there is nothing really big that differentiates it.

Kwid on the other hand is an entirely different story. This is a segment where even the fearless are wary about treading in. This is Maruti's fiefdom. From time to time manufacturers tried to wrestle with Maruti to gain some traction in the mass market segment but most never succeeded. In fact the closest challenger Hyundai also got its successes only after it altered its game plan. Today Hyundai fills in for that segment of crowd which wants a little more premium product than what the mass market Maruti offers. Starting from EON and up ahead each of the Hyundai in its segment offers a more premium option at a slightly higher price point but with comparatively better reach of service and saleability in the preowned market than any of its competitor sans Maruti. In such a market Renault Kwid brings in a fresh whiff of air, and dare I say the conviction of an invincible!

Kwid suddenly changes the narrative. Entry segment does not need to mean diminutive in looks or cheap in quality or for that matter unappealing and functional. Kwid is a car that competes in the entry segment and yet it looks like a million bucks. In doing so it brings in a premium look, assertive stance and flashy colors, none of which were really a forte for the segment. It also goes ahead and adds features that people generally don't even dream of in that segment. When was the last time you saw a huge colored navigator touchscreen based entertainment console in a sub 5 lakh segment? How often do the manufacturers agree to offer airbags as an option in this segment? Last I saw they were more keen on justifying why the logic of airbags is spurious in the Indian context! And kwid hammers the last nail on the board when it asks you with a smirk, did you say Hyundai? Hey, for all that you don't always have to pay a premium either!

In my opinion, Kwid is the COTY for having introduced a radical thought process in a segment that otherwise keeps trying to emulate the market leader to beat it in the game. I chose Kwid.

[Dr.Abhi]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

This year I think it's going to be a 3 way battle between the Kwid, Baleno and Creta. All 3 are well deserved in their respective segments.

I'm going to think over this for a while before I cast my vote. All 3 were game changers and have turned out to be successful.

creta and baleno are not game changers imho.

[carwatcher]

I voted for Kwid as it really kind of reignited the entry level segment.
I really can't understand as to by what parameters Creta can be referred to as SUV. IMHO its a Crossover at best.

[VeluM]

Kwid for redefining a segment, and bringing some style, class and luxury (some, mind) to an otherwise bare-bones segment. This is a car that people can aspire to and yet afford, and looks butch like the Duster.

I love that we Indians hate Cheap cars, but love them when they just cost less

[Aficionados]

For me it has to be Kwid. It has redefined entry level design standards and first time a strong competition to Alto has arrived on the road. It is feature rich car yet priced low. Kudos to Renault to have developed this car who were struggling to mass sell any of their car in recent years (Duster numbers too fading).

While Creta & Baleno hold strong competition for COTY, they are not break through products in terms of Design. We already had better designed Compact SUV's (ES, Duster etc) and Hatchbacks (Jazz, Polo, Ellite I20 etc), so to me Creta & Baleno despite being better products cannot beat the Kwid for the obvious reasons

[PrideRed]

Originally Posted by Dr.Abhi

creta and baleno are not game changers imho.

Well, if you see just the car they might not be game changers but the sales chart have a different story to tell! Creta is selling like 7K per month and Baleno has started inching towards 10K mark, these numbers are definitely game changers for the manufacturer and the respective segment as well.

[catchjyoti]

Wow...Creta and Kwid going neck to neck!!! Each with 1/3rd of the votes cast till now.

I voted for the Creta as it is closest to the middle class dream of a car which can both be the weekday commuter as well as the weekend warrior. SUV stance (read: look down or level with most other cars), high ground clearance to ride over the pot-holes, good-looking all-around from outside and pleasing interiors (at least the dashboard...which will be what you will be looking at for 90% of the time). Add to that the availability of Diesel Auto as an option and it becomes the complete package.

If Creta would not have been in the list, then I would have surely voted for the Kwid. An ideal starter car. SUV-ish look in a low-priced entry-level hatchback. A great value.

[kpzen]

DC Avanti in the list is a SURPRISE !

1. It's not a regular production car, its produced on order basis. The whole buying process is different from regular cars.
2. To my knowledge, till date they have got an order of approx 300 nos and delivered only 100 of them.

Avanti is in a segment of its own. Featuring in a race for the COTY with other regular cars doesn't do justice to Avanti or other cars.

[saket77]

Voted for the Baleno, knowing very well that the community is not known to be kind to Maruti in general due to safety concerns. But I feel that Baleno has got most things right to succeed in the segment it has been targeted to. And did not find any major negatives when checked it personally.

[iamahunter]

Kwid shook the small car market with its styling and price.
But the built quality and and brand Renault reputation is a downer for me.

Creta, the car which is I believe the most favourite amongst us.
But, I would not vote for it, reason: its not as much car as the money it demands.
I would any-time prefer the XUV(styling and capabilities)/Innova(comfort,space & reliability) over it.
So basically, there are much better cars than it already available in the market.

Baleno, the one which is hovering in my mind, but i20 is still the benchmark.
Baleno 1.6(if... there was one) would have straight win here.

Figo twins ideally have a big advantage here.
The powerful engine, the pricing and looks are the factors making them hard to ignore.

The Go+, Lodgy, Avanti, no idea why are they even here.
Request moderators to not bother them much and let them be at peace out of the list.

CLA and Discovery Sport are nice.
But car of the year, I don't think so.

Jazz, TUV, S-Cross, Trailblazer don't have much to think about them.
They don't have any fuss, not that they are bad or anything, but they just don't click.

So coming to the verdict,
with the looks(that are slightly above OK),
engine that's "its been around for ages",
service centre that's "no far than an hour away",
and the spot on pricing,
I vote for the Baleno.

[Dr.Abhi]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

This year I think it's going to be a 3 way battle between the Kwid, Baleno and Creta. All 3 are well deserved in their respective segments.

I'm going to think over this for a while before I cast my vote. All 3 were game changers and have turned out to be successful.

Originally Posted by PrideRed

Well, if you see just the car they might not be game changers but the sales chart have a different story to tell! Creta is selling like 7K per month and Baleno has started inching towards 10K mark, these numbers are definitely game changers for the manufacturer and the respective segment as well.

if we take the numbers, then swift dzire is the game changer, but in poll, we dont talk the sales. It is the product innovation we see with respect to the category. Earlier Mahindra scorpio can be considered as game changer, similarly duster, as such things were unheard earlier. Who would have thought A segment cars to be spacious before the advent of Kwid. If kwid's structural integrity is proved, then it definately deserve the coveted Car Of The Year award. A car has to be innovative and successful to be termed as Game Changer.

[landcruiser123]

Segment wise:

• Renault Kwid: Great success at the entry level segment. To get the kind of response they've got in a segment dominated by MSIL and HMIL is great. Only downer: No dual airbags and ABS, not even as an option.
  
• Maruti Baleno: Suzuki knows what India wants. And no surprises there. But interior quality not upto the Elite i20. I'm not going to complain about the NVH though. Great positive: Dual airbags and ABS are standard across all variants.
  
• Hyundai Creta: Going by Hyundai's reputation, they've done just about what is expected and nothing more. Creta hasn't bought anything revolutionary to the segment. And to top it all, the car is priced steeply. I'm complaining about the price because of the lack of some features which are offered in their i20 and Verna.

I vote for Kwid, which is a product of extensive learning done by Renault. Let's hope the the car is reliable in the long run.

Maruti could have handled the S Cross better by pricing the 1.6 diesel well.

DC Avanti is nonsense. A 30+ lakh car which doesn't have airbags?

Originally Posted by 1.2TSI7DSG

May 2016 be a better year for the Car Industry.

Hopefully we may see the Fortuner, Innova, Endeavour and Elantra in the next COTY award.

[GRAND23]

My Vote for Creta.

The car which took out sales of duster and other SUV's in that segment.
Other than higher cost I have nothing to complain on Creta.
The awesome 1.6L engine is impressive and fun to drive.

Nearly in every way this car has a potential to attract customers. Kudos to Hyundai.

I am sure Hyundai team is watching closely sales of Baleno and started working on the upgraded i20 to maintain segment best.

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by Dr.Abhi

creta and baleno are not game changers imho.

I guess that depends on the definition of game changer. In my opinion they were game changers. Here's why:

1. Creta. The Duster was the first here. It did very well but it had one sore point which was the interiors and overall quality. Then came the Ecosport, it had much better interiors vs the Duster, had more edgy styling and was priced well. It gave a tough time to the Duster. Only thing it was really compact. Rear seat and boot space were comparable to hatchbacks. With the Creta, you can clearly see Hyundai has basically learnt from Ford and Renault. It has the good bits of both and none of the drawbacks. Hyundai is charging a premium but that's because there really is no big show stopper in the Creta vs the competition. It may not appeal to a lot of enthusiasts but it's difficult to find fault with the package.

2. Baleno. This is a game changer for Maruti. Maruti has sold a lot of Swifts, Ritz, WagonR. The customer base is huge plus there are a lot of new customers to tap. Till now anyone wanting to upgrade from a Swift would look outside Maruti to Hyundai. Not everyone wants to jump to a sedan. The Jazz and Elite i20 were the only options for existing owners of Swift, Ritz and WagonR. The Baleno now fills that huge void. It gives an opportunity for that huge existing customer base to upgrade to in the same brand as well as tap new customers who would look at the competition for something more premium than a Swift. Till Maruti came out with the S-cross and Baleno I had made up my mind that I would not go towards a Maruti. The cars just felt ordinary with no appeal. The Baleno and S-cross have actually made me like Maruti again. I'm sure there will be a lot more like me.

Yes, both these cars are not creating a new segment but they have redefined their respective segments and moved things up a notch. This has made it really difficult for the smaller players like Ford and VW.